Revealed: VF V8 Supercar

Based on the just-released VF Commodore Holden has revealed its new V8 Supercar for 2013.

The next piece of Holden's VF Commodore puzzle has been put in place. And it provides a clue about the next version of the VF Commodore too.

A day after Holden revealed its VF Commodore, there has been a race to become to the first V8 Supercar team to rip the covers off a race-ready version.

Three of the country's leading Holden outfits, spearheaded by the factory Holden Racing Team and followed by Team BOC and Garry Rogers Motorsport, were quick to take the wraps off their all new Car Of the Future racers today ahead of their planned track debut at an official pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) this weekend.

Holden only released images of the top-shelf Calais V of its new VF Commodore on Sunday because it is waiting for the Chevrolet SS to be revealed at the season-opening Nascar race in Daytona, Florida later this week before releasing more information on the local performance models.

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But you only have to look at the V8 Supercar racers to catch a glimpse of what the SS's unique front styling will look like with its trapezoidal gaping front grille. It is expected the road-going SS will feature a similar shape with a blacked-out bumper section and a separate air intake.

Apart from the new VF Commodore front and rear styling for Holden's V8 Supercars, the biggest change is the shift from a centrally-mounted rear wing to one with side end plates similar to the Ford Falcon.

But underneath the skin, all V8 Supercar racers will be completely different this year with the arrival of the Car Of The Future regulations, which is designed to make the cars cheaper to construct and repair, improve the racing and attract new manufacturers to the series.

It has already been successful in the latter with Nissan Motorsport due to reveal its final-specification Altima V8 Supercar tomorrow and Erebus Racing taking the covers off its Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs on Thursday.

38 comments so far

Much as I like a V8, can't help thinking the 'Car of the Future' was an opportunity to move to something more relevant. How a FWD Altima body dropped on to a RWD V8 race car entices folks into Nissan dealerships, beats me,

Perhaps what we need are feeder classes to cover the bases for future racers... much like MotoGP and F1 have feeder classes... a 2 litre class (Cruze and Focus based?) a 3 litre class (could still be Falcadore?) as well as V8 Soopercars topping the bill. Makes for a more intereting weekend too.

Commenter

Bryce

Location

Sydney

Date and time

February 11, 2013, 4:27PM

V8 Supercars has always had a feeder series, the Dunlop Series (formerly the Fujitsu Series). At any round of the V8s you are likely to see Dunlop Series races, V8 Ute races, Carrera Cup races, Aussie Racing Cars, Formula Ford and/or GT Championship races. There are plenty of racing categories around to nurture talent and make a great weekend out of every round of the Championship but nothing comes close to the excitement of the main game.

Commenter

MotorMouth

Location

Sydney

Date and time

February 11, 2013, 6:15PM

Bryce its funny you say that as I asked the same question on the V8 Supercar website some months ago and was howled down by all the so called experts.At least the Mercedes is rear wheel drive and can be bought with a V8. Apparently the original cars configuration means nothing anymore.Bit like a guy Harry Lefoe years ago raced a Hillman Imp with a V8 in it.Same deal methinks.

Commenter

Darkie McMillan

Location

South West Coast of WA

Date and time

February 11, 2013, 8:30PM

Really? In a country of 26 million people? You guys seem to want the world of motorsport at your doorstep but forget a crucial element; who's going to watch? We have a great production car championship that no one watches, we had Super Tourers that no one watched, Superbikes with very little support... It's time to be realistic, we have a world class touring car championship that none of you 'experts' support. Talk about ungrateful. You want 2 litres? BTCC is on channel One. Watch it. Or better yet, get down to your track and support our local motorsport industry, whether it be production or V8SC. But it's easier to whinge, right?

Commenter

Problem?

Location

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 9:12AM

A FWD series...been there, done that and it didn't work here in Australia. The BTCC in the UK is going through their own car of the future (titled the Next Generation Touring Car) to cut down costs and entice more manufactuers to the sport. V8SC is going in the right direction with their Car Of The Future specs...i would love to see Toyota come in. Yes the Camry is a FWD car...but if they can throw money to support NASCAR in the US, why not here

Commenter

Jason

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 9:54AM

The NGTC car is actually based on the production car, though. Alan Gow has even said that the V8SC formula is something that works well for Aus., like the BTCC for the UK. They are both completely different markets, and their respective national touring car championships reflect this. They are not interchangeable. There is an interview on speedcafe that you can watch where he explains this in more detail.

Commenter

Problem?

Location

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 10:31AM

Bryce,Great idea! The car racing industry could learn so much from motorcycle racing at every level. The major bike manufacturers have always managed to maintain product relevance to the broader market place through racing. Since the demise of homologation, car racing has only been relevant to enthusiasts, not the broader market. Gone are the days of "win Sunday, sell Monday".Not so in the bikes. There is even a scooter gp championship run across S.E. Asia!. Winning bike races still sells bikes.The emphasis on fuel consumption on bikes has not flowed through to cars either. If a bike starts on the grid with 18 litres of fuel it can't pit for a top up. The reliability of bikes is also worth noting. Mechanical failures are few and far between.Our local manufactures could really look to the "big four" of Japan to spice up not only racing but product and sales also.

Commenter

David

Location

vic

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 11:18AM

@Problem? I read that and I agree with what you are saying. I'm just saying that in principal V8SC and BTCC are going in the same direction (reducing costs and enticing more manufacturers). At least they (V8SC and especially BTCC) look like their production car cousins. NASCAR only startted aloowing teams to make their cars look more closer to their production car cousins this year

Commenter

Jason

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 12:00PM

".....rip the covers of a race ready (VF) version".

No, there will never be such a thing as a "race ready" version of the VF Commodore. There will, however, be a full-race competition-only vehicle that outwardly resembles a VF (but with completely different panels, nevertheless....).